Schema therapy session usually lasts 50 minutes and can take different formats depending on the therapist’s style and the client’s needs. A few formats that you might encounter include:
- Individual therapy: which involves working one-on-one with a therapist.
- Group therapy: which involves a small group of individuals who share a common goal.
During a schema therapy session, the therapist helps the client identify their schemas and understand how they affect their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. The therapist then works with the client to develop strategies to challenge and modify the schemas. This process is known as schema healing and includes fulfilling unmet core emotional needs. During the session you and your therapist might connect with your vulnerable part to feel it, hear it, listen it which might be challenging or unpleasant, and healing at the same time. In addition, you and your therapist will agree on the frequency of having sessions and homework assignments.
Schema therapy offers many cognitive, emotion-focused, and behavioral interventions that facilitate the healing and transformation of schemas and modes.
